They left. Kai and Zane left.

Misako had left last month, Nya had left four days ago, Kai and Zane left that night, he and Jay were leaving tomorrow.

They had collectively decided that Lloyd would watch over the city while the others searched for Master Wu, but something about leaving Lloyd by himself made Cole's gut twist.

Maybe it was the fact that Lloyd was arguably the most affected by the loss of their master, maybe it was the fact that when they thought Zane had died all those years ago, they had all left one by one, just like this, or maybe it was because when they took him in, Lloyd was all alone.

So, after he had finished packing, and Jay made his way to bed, Cole made his way to the living room in the Airjitzu temple, seeing that Lloyd had the same idea and was already invested in a round of Fist to Face Three.

Cole moved the empty bag of chips and sat beside him before grabbing a controller and adding himself into the game, watching as his avatar appeared. "I hope you don't mind."

"I need the company." Lloyd nodded as the two battled the fictional skeletons, watching as they fell apart on screen.

Cole hit the buttons on autopilot, wishing that he didn't have to leave Lloyd again tomorrow, but he had to keep reminding himself that this was for the good of the team. Lloyd didn't need the responsibility of being Master, not when Wu could still be out there.

"So, does it hurt?" Lloyd asked, bringing Cole out of his thoughts with confusion, but before he could ask, Lloyd elaborated, "the scar. Does it hurt?"

"Not as much anymore, but when I first got it, yeah." Cole admitted as the scar against his hairline chose that particular moment to throb, which made him wince, but he was confused as to why exactly Lloyd was asking.

"Why do you ask?"

Lloyd stayed silent for a moment, and Cole watched as he stuck his tongue out while beating on a specific skeleton before speaking, "I don't know, but given our experiences with ghosts, we should stick together, you know?"

"Kai told you to stop making light of that, Lloyd, remember?" Cole questioned softly, flashes in his head of Morro in Lloyd's body trying to take them all down and the reason that he ended up stuck as a ghost anyway.

"Kai's not here anymore." Lloyd grumbled, pressing harder on the buttons of the controller.

Cole paused the game, much to Lloyd's annoyance, before speaking up. "You have every right to be upset about us leaving. That doesn't mean you can act like a brat. We let you decide who was staying with you after your mom left and you said you could handle it by yourself.."

"And I haven't heard anything from her!" Lloyd shouted, the volume of it nearly knocking Cole back, before the younger of the two dropped the controller in his lap, clearly upset about his outburst. "I'm sorry, I just...I can't be alone again."

Cole put his controller down and pulled Lloyd into a hug before he had the chance to protest, feeling him shudder against his shoulder.

'He doesn't want to be forgotten, you of all people should understand that.' Cole shook the thought away and brought his attention back to Lloyd, who still had his head pressed against his shoulder while taking rapid, shaky breaths, clearly trying to stop crying and failing.

Unfortunately, no one on the team was unfamiliar with Lloyd working himself into a panic when he got upset, especially after the Tournament; even though it had been awhile, Cole should've seen it coming with all of Lloyd's new responsibility and Master Wu's disappearance.

"Lloyd, you gotta calm down a little before you make yourself sick," Cole insisted, rubbing his back to try and keep him from hyperventilating, "shhh… Just try and take a deep breath, okay?"

He heard Lloyd's weak attempt at trying to comply, but it fell short, so Cole moved his hand from his back to the top of his head, holding him closer to his heart than his shoulder. "You're okay, try and focus on my heartbeat."

He felt the shuddering slow against him, although his breathing was still shaky, it was starting to become more even. Cole let out a sigh of relief, still holding Lloyd against him.

"There you go," Cole mumbled, moving his hand back down to Lloyd's back before continuing, "no one wants to leave, kiddo. But...if there's a chance we can find your uncle-"

"I-I know." Lloyd choked out before sitting up, his eyes reaching Cole's.

"Too bad we can't stick together though. Who's gonna keep you from putting orange juice in your cereal?" Cole joked, immediately getting a snort along with a response.

"At least I was exhausted. Who's gonna tell you your cooking stinks?" Lloyd joked, and Cole made sure to act offended as he put a hand on his chest and gasped.

"I can't believe that after everything we've been through, you aren't grateful for my cooking." Cole decided to choose that moment to ruffle Lloyd's hair, which he had started growing out, until he looked like one of those dogs that looked like they had a mop on their head, "you'll just have to call me and remind me how bad it is."

Lloyd chuckled, running his hands through his hair until it was styled as he intended, before yawning. "Thanks, Cole."

"No problem, Green Machine," Cole smiled, using his hand to wipe the drying tears from Lloyd's cheeks, "you should get in bed, you look exhausted."

Lloyd didn't even protest, rubbing at his eyes before turning the tv off and standing up, making his way to his room.

Cole started to clean up the room, knowing fully well that Lloyd would be moving closer to the city once they left. Despite all the history involved, he was going to miss the Airjitzu temple.

But at the same time, maybe it would be best if it remained as another landmark on the "History of Ninjago" tour.

As he was folding the throw blanket, however, that's when Lloyd's voice piped up, calling his name. "Yes, Lloyd?"

"I'm holding you to those phone calls."

Cole chuckled before setting the blanket down and pulling Lloyd into a hug, "I wouldn't have it any other way."